This invention relates to mattresses and foundations for beds, and particularly to mattresses and/or foundations that provide an enlarged sleeping surface area as compared to a conventional Queen sized bed.
In 1958, the predecessor of Simmons Company, the assignee of the present invention, introduced the Queen sized mattress. The dimensions of the Queen sized mattress were derived through research by Simmons in which average sized couples were asked to sleep on mattresses of unrestricted size. During the course of the night""s sleep, the couples were observed, and the area which the couples occupied during the night was measured. Based on area occupied, the dimensions for the Queen sized mattress was established. Later in the 1960s, King sized mattresses were introduced to cater to people who were larger than average size, and who needed a larger sleeping area.
Since 1958, the average size of a woman in United States has increased by 13 pounds, and the average size of a man has increased by 19 pounds. The increase in size of average Americans suggests the need for a larger sleeping surface area for such couples occupying a single bed.
Standard bed sizes (American National Standard 2357.1- 1981) published by the International Sleep Association are as follows:
Typically, the twin bed size is suitable for individual children, and the double bed size is suitable for individual adults. A Queen sized bed cannot always comfortably accommodate two people as suggested by the increase in average size of Americans since 1958. Particularly, if at least one of the people is of relatively large stature or if at least one of the people is a relatively light sleeper or a restless sleeper, a Queen sized mattress is likely to be considered too small for an average couple. Because of the close proximity of occupants in a Queen sized bed, movement by one occupant of the bed is transferred to and tends to wake up or keep up the other bed occupant. While appropriate selection of the inner core spring construction and padding may help reduce this transfer of motion, beds of such construction tend to be less comfortable to users.
Generally, because of their larger sizes, two people can be comfortably accommodated in King sized or California King sized beds. These beds, however, are so large that they do not always easily fit inside a bedroom and/or they do not leave sufficient space in a room to accommodate other furniture that is typically desired in a bedroom. Moreover, the increased costs of King sized and California King sized mattresses, foundations, bed frames, and bedding make these very large bed sizes disadvantageous.
Thus, there is a need for a mattress, foundation, and/or bed assembly that provides a reduced transfer of motion between bed occupants and an enlarged sleeping surface area as compared to conventional Queen sized beds but that is not so large as to overfill or cramp the available space in conventional sized bedrooms.
This invention relates to a bed assembly that provides an enlarged sleeping surface area as compared to a standard Queen sized bed. Particularly, the bed assembly according to the invention has a sleeping surface area of about 64 inches to about 68 inches wide and about 77 inches to about 82 inches long. This enlarged width is between the standard sizes for Queen sized and King sized beds.
One embodiment of the invention has a mattress, comprising: a top surface; a bottom surface; and an inner core between the top surface and the bottom surface. The mattress is about 64 inches to about 68 inches wide and about 77 inches to about 82 inches long. In this specification, a mattress having the dimensions described above also will be called an xe2x80x9cenlargedxe2x80x9d mattress.
In another aspect of the invention, the above-described enlarged mattress can be used with a foundation for supporting the mattress. In this aspect of the invention, the foundation (e.g., a box spring) comprises: a top support surface; a bottom support surface; and an inner support structure between the top support surface and the bottom support surface, wherein the foundation is about 64 inches to about 68 inches wide and about 77 inches to about 82 inches long. A foundation having these dimensions also will be referred to in this specification as having an xe2x80x9cenlargedxe2x80x9d size. The enlarged mattress and enlarged foundation can be used together, optionally with an independent base frame unit of appropriate size, to provide a bed assembly.
In another embodiment of the invention, a mattress, having an enlarged sleeping surface area as compared to a standard Queen sized mattress, is used in combination with a standard Queen sized foundation. This can be accomplished in several different ways. For example, in one embodiment, the enlarged mattress includes a rigid bottom member, integrally formed as part of the mattress, having a width of about 64 inches to about 68 inches and a length of about 77 inches to about 82 inches. The rigid bottom member is used to support the edge portions of the mattress that extend over the sides of a standard Queen sized foundation. The rigid bottom member may be hinged to accommodate folding for an adjustable bed. Because of this rigid bottom member, the enlarged mattress according to this aspect of the invention provides only one sleeping surface (i.e., it is a xe2x80x9cone-sidedxe2x80x9d mattress). In other words, because of the rigid bottom member, this enlarged mattress cannot be flipped over to provide a second sleeping surface.
In another embodiment, a two-sided enlarged mattress is used with a standard Queen sized foundation, and a substantially flat, rigid support is provided between the mattress and the foundation. Advantageously, this substantially flat, rigid support will have an overall width of about 64 inches to about 68 inches and a length of about 77 to about 82 inches, to support the overhanging side edges of the enlarged mattress. If desired, the substantially flat rigid support may be constructed from two or more flat, rigid supports, and preferably the substantially flat, rigid support includes a first board having a width of about one half the width of the enlarged mattress and a length substantially the same as the length of the enlarged mattress, and a second board having a width of about one half the width of the enlarged mattress and a length substantially the same as the length of the enlarged mattress. These two boards are centered, side-by-side, such that a combined width of the first board and the second board substantially corresponds to the width of the enlarged mattress.
In another embodiment of the invention, a foundation is provided having a bottom surface that fits into a standard Queen sized bed frame and an enlarged upper surface that corresponds to the width of the enlarged mattresses according to the invention. This foundation comprises: a top support surface having a width of about 64 inches to about 68 inches and a length of about 77 inches to about 82 inches; a bottom support surface having a width of about 58 inches to about 61 inches and a length of about 77 inches to about 82 inches, wherein the top support surface extends outside of the width of the bottom support surface by about 2 inches to about 4 inches on each side of the bottom support surface.
In another embodiment of the invention, a two-sided enlarged mattress is used with a standard Queen sized foundation, and a rigid support is provided between the mattress and the foundation. This rigid support has an overall width of about 64 inches to about 68 inches and a length of about 77 inches to about 82 inches, to support the overhanging side edges of the enlarged mattress. The rigid support may be constructed of two parallel extending spaced apart members and at least two and preferably three transversely extending members attached thereto. This rigid support is positioned between the foundation and the two sided enlarged mattress and is centered such that the width of the rigid support corresponds to the width of the enlarged mattress.
The mattresses and foundations according to the invention can be used together to form a bed assembly. A base frame member of an appropriate size (depending on the size of the foundation bottom) can be used along with the mattress and foundation to hold the mattress and foundation above the floor.
Also, in all of the above embodiments of the invention, the enlarged surface of the mattress and/or foundation may be between about 65 inches to about 67 inches wide and about 78 inches to about 80 inches long.